Dear Jewish Federation, Anti Defamation League

A former Russian Jewish refugee who lives in San Diego, received an invitation from his synagogue to attend an event geared toward helping the Muslim refugees.

Below is his response. I think he pretty much summarized my thoughts and feelings towards any jewish organization that organizes these types of events. Really worthwhile to read especially if you find yourself on the other side of this issue.

Dear Jewish Federation, Anti Defamation League,
Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this evening’s “Immigrants and Refugees, a Jewish call to action” community event that you are organizing. In lieu of attending. However, I would like to share some thoughts I have on the subject. I hope that you take those thoughts into consideration both in tonight’s program as well as any further community outreach programs.
As a former refugee myself I believe I have some valuable insights to add to this discussion. I presume that the current call to action and tonight’s discussion were spurred by the recent temporary ban placed by President Trump on entrants from the following 7 countries: Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and Lybia. There have been some very emotional claims made about this ban both in the media as well as Jewish community so I think it would be useful to analyze the facts.
The seven aforementioned countries all share one common thread, they are hotbeds of Islamic Extremism whose main aim is to wipe out western civilization as we know it and more specifically to wipe out the Jews. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Lybia and Sudan are failed states where the concept of verifiable, trustworthy official documents no longer exists. Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism which denies Holocaust and openly calls for the destruction of state of Israel and eventually U.S. Essentially all of the ranking security officials in Homeland Security, FBI and CIA have stated that it is impossible to properly vet citizens of those countries and all of them pose a potential threat to the safety and security of our homeland and its citizens. While it is undeniable that the citizens of those countries, the ones that are still alive, have suffered unimaginable horrors and persecution at the hands of their countrymen and many would like to leave, that does not make United States of America responsible for their fate.

It has been claimed by many in the media that the refugees from those countries do not pose any risk whatsoever and have never committed any atrocities in the U.S. The facts simply do not bear this out. Leaving aside the numerous atrocities perpetrated by Muslim immigrants and refugees in Europe (which would take pages to document), here is a brief list of the most recent atrocities committed in U.S by Muslim refugees and immigrants:
· Somali refugee Abdul Razak Ali Artan went on a jihadi stabbing rampage at Ohio State.
· In 2016, an Iraqi refugee Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan was accused of planning to bomb a local mall in Texas.
· In September 2016, a Somali refugee named Dahir Adan went on a stabbing spree at a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
· Somali refugee, Mohamed Osman Mohamed, was arrested for planning to blow up a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Oregon back in 2010.
· In 2012, Abdullatif Ali Aldosary, an Iraqi refugee, bombed a Social Security Office in Arizona.
· Two Iraqi refugees were convicted for having aided Al-Qaeda in Iraq to kill American servicemen. These so called “refugees,” lied on their applications, and as proof that the screening process is ineffective, were allowed entry without issue.
· Both Boston Bombers were refugees. The Tsarnaev brothers were brought here courtesy of your paycheck, killing and maiming innocents as a result.
I should add that Omar Mateen, perpetrator of one of the biggest mass murders in U.S history, was a son of an Afghani refugee.
The bottom line is that there is a clear, direct and bloody evidence that the immigrants and refugees from the seven countries on President Trumps’ list pose a direct and clear danger to us.
In your appeal for this event, you seem to be drawing on Holocaust, making direct connection and comparisons to the Jewish refugees of 1930’ and 40s with the current wave of Muslim refugees. That is deeply troubling, inaccurate and plain offensive. First this kind of comparison cheapens and degrades the memory of the Holocaust. The Jewish refugees of 30’s and 40’s were rejected by this country squarely on the basis of antisemitism that was deeply prevalent in Rosevelt administration as well as U.S overall. Israel did not exist, the Jewish community in U.S was fairly powerless and the entire world shut its doors motivated by antisemitism. The muslim refugees of today are being temporarily restricted as they pose a concrete, stated, proven and real danger to the citizens of this country. Furthermore, there are multiple very wealthy Arab countries that can easily take them but have refused to take even a single soul and have not helped them at all. Saudi Arabia has stated that it will build 200 mosques in Germany but will not spend a dollar to take in a single refugee. The Arabs won’t take them, why should we?
Second, as a former refugee myself, I am deeply offended by your implication that all refugees are created equal. That is also simply not true. The European refugees like ourselves, came here to integrate, to contribute and to help build this country, founded on Judeo-Christian values. The Muslim refugees from the seven countries as well as Arab world in general, are coming as part of the stealth Jihad whose goal is a total destruction of Western civilization as we know it. Is that what we as Jews want to enable?
Finally, you may argue that not all refugees subscribe to the nihilistic, apocalyptic vision of Islam and its drive to dominate the world. Perhaps you are right. But as the father of three young children and a husband of a beautiful wife, do I really want to play Russian Roulette with the lives of my loved ones? Do I really want to create another Sweden here where women are attacked and molested regularly and are now told to avoid public pools and to change the way they dress? Or perhaps you would like me to take a chance on creating another Austria here where a 10 year boy gets raped by one of the recently admitted refugees?
Finally, let’s talk about the Jewish aspect of all of this. In your appeal, you make a point that “Jewish history and tradition puts us at the forefront of welcoming the stranger”. While that is certainly true, our Jewish tradition does not call for actions that endanger one’s life and in fact the sanctity of one’s life takes precedence over all other actions. As you appear to be in search of a worthy cause that can unite and bring out the best in our community may I suggest the following possible causes and offer to be the first to volunteer to contribute to and support:

Let’s help the poor Jews of Eastern Ukraine, caught in the crossfire, struggling to survive.

Let’s help the West European Jews, cowering in their homes, under 24/7 protection from the Muslim hordes all around them. Let’s help those who want to immigrate to Israel

Let’s help the Argentine Jews, victims of brutal Hezbollah attacks as well as persistent, institutionalized antisemitism

Let’s raise funds for the few gentiles still alive designated as “righteous among nations”, many of whom are barely making ends meet in Eastern Europe

Let’s pledge to double out support to Friends of IDF organization that takes care of lonely warriors in IDF who are risking their lives to protect us

Let’s create a fund for the family of Halal Yaffa Ariel, a 12 year old girl recently murdered by Muslim terrorist in Israel

Let’s start a fund for the family of Ilan Halevi, a French Jew, brutally tortured for weeks and then murdered in the most gruesome way by his Muslim countrymen, many of them former refugees and immigrants.

Let’s create a fund for the remaining family members of the family in Itamar most of whom were murdered by Muslim terrorists in Israel

Let’s start a campaign to protest the fact that at least 16 Arab countries don’t allow anyone with Israeli stamps in their passport into their country. Let’s publicize the fact that Iran, on their visa application, forbids entry to anyone who visited “Palestinian Occupied Territories” in the last year.

I can go on and on but I think you get the point. There is no shortage of good causes to rally the community around. Any of them are in line with “Tikun Olam” which I am guessing you are after and very much a help to an important portion of our worldwide community. Those are the kinds of causes many of us can get excited about and will gladly contribute to. Rallying to the cause of Jew hating, America bashing, Islamofascists who pose a direct danger to our families is not one of them. The sooner Jewish Federation, Anti Defamation League and other Jewish organizations behind tonight’s event realize this the better. Until then, not a dollar, not a minute of time, not a single contribution will be flowing from our pockets to yours and we will indeed be a house divided.